Not Without A Fight
by SilverDawn2010
Summary: He was cold, distant, aloof, pining ... she was gentle, alone, scared, hurting ... and strangely familiar feelings rushed into his heart, but he wouldn't, couldn't permit them. Not without a fight. Shadow X Tikal.
1. Familiar

**Welcome to my ShadowxTikal story! However, I first must make some simple disclaimers... I've never played Sonic Adventure or (SA2 for that matter), but I've done some research (watching Sonic X and the cutscenes from said games, reading the Sonic Wiki, and reading all 2 of the Shadikal fics on here) so I hope I can paint a good picture of the two characters. Also, don't hate me if Shadow is OOC... he's impossible for me to write; I'm stretching myself greatly. And if you don't like ShadowxTikal... I'm sorry, but I do; the two fit each other almost too perfectly. It's just something new that I'm writing. Maybe I can win you over with this. If not, tough bananas! :3  
**

...xxx...

Chapter 1: Familiar

...xxx...

She didn't know how it happened. She didn't know when it started, who'd started it, or why. She didn't even know when.

All Tikal knew was that one minute, it was business as usual: hanging out inside the Master Emerald alongside Chaos. It was how the echidna had come to spend all of her days. Familiarity couldn't afford to breed contempt for her; this was just her lot in life. But one minute, she was in her familiar, spirit like state, and the next, her whole world and reality had shattered, quite literally. At first, pain had gripped Tikal's whole being, feeling like it was being ripped to shreds and torn limb from limb, even though her physical self had been shed long ago.

And then the biggest shock was her welcome back to the outside world: none other than her worst nightmare, a fierce battle, complete with terrible violence, loud noises of metal clashing against metal, fierce taunts, and ear piercing wails of pain. As she surveyed the horrible scene, Tikal's only reaction was to run - but when she tried to move, found that her usual light, spirit form had been weighed down with heavy muscles, fur, and bones. Tikal had a unfamiliar and somewhat awkward physical body once again.

Now out of her element in all ways possible, all Tikal could do was gape. She didn't know who was fighting, why or what they were fighting_ for_. Oh... what had happened, anyway? Where was she? And where was Chaos? Had he been sent here, too? Using her arms to lift herself up off her stomach, Tikal suddenly became aware of all the shards of green glass underneath her.

_The Master Emerald had been shattered again!_

Now kneeling so that she could perhaps gather the shards, Tikal winced as she felt pricks on her knees. She was about to continue scooping up the pieces, but a desperate shout broke her thoughts.

"Knuckles! The Emerald!"

"I know!" the guardian yelled back, but his path up to the altar was blocked by robots. Darn - how had this battle gone so wrong?

Downing yet another bot with his powerful fists, Knuckles suddenly had a clear view of his shattered Master Emerald. But it was what, or rather _who_, he saw on top of the altar that gave him pause.

_"Tikal?"_ he asked incredulously, but his voice hadn't been loud enough for her to hear.

The apricot echidna was kneeling on the edge, her hands cupping around one of the pieces of the Master Emerald, looking forlorn, yet totally oblivious to all the carnage around her. Knuckles could only gape, surprised to see _her_ back. No one had known what happened to her after she'd disappeared...

Seeing an easy and perhaps valuable target, one of the green-steeled robots made a sudden move towards Tikal. Knuckles was about to go after it, but found himself caught up in another fight. "Sonic!" he immediately yelled for his comrade, but the hedgehog was off doing who knows what.

Hearing loud crashes growing closer, Tikal turned from the ground and shattered Emerald to look up, but almost fainted. A gargantuan emerald green machine was heading straight for her, it's tree trunk legs shaking the ground with every step, it's long claws reaching towards her.

_"No,"_ Tikal breathed, and took a somewhat clumsy step back, "No, don't... please don't hurt me," she begged, clutching the one piece of the Emerald close to her, hoping it'd protect her.

The emotionless robot payed no heed to her plea, and kept crashing forward mercilessly. Tikal wanted to run, but wasn't used to this body and a quick glance of her surroundings informed her she was completely surrounded anyway. There was no hope, she was going to be captured and -

Without warning, a black blur of wind rushed by, and the next thing Tikal knew, she was moving so fast, her long quills were blown back from the motion and her vision blurred into a landscape of mixed colors. She gasped, but even that was swallowed up in the rush. Her next realization was that she was being held, cradled almost, close to fluffy white fur framed by contrasting ebony. A look upwards revealed to Tikal her capturer: twin red eyes, a scowl tugging at a tan muzzle, and jet black quills streaked with the same red of his gaze.

What in the world? Who was he?

Before Tikal had a chance to try and wiggle out of his grasp, he muttered, "Chaos Control." An intense flash of light and a feeling of weightlessness gripped her for a second, but then Tikal found herself on a high building, this time looking down with a bird's eye view on the battle, the way a general would.

But Tikal could not tear her eyes from the hedgehog that had... had he saved her? Or had he kidnapped her, made it worse? Was he on the bad side here? Sure, he'd brought her out of harm's way, but... it wasn't quite so clear.

Letting out a deep sigh, Shadow allowed himself to look down at the girl echidna now that she was safe. He'd seen the whole thing happen - Eggman attacking, Sonic and his three friends with their usual mistakes, the Master Emerald trying to be used by the Doctor and shattering, revealing this strange echidna. Strange, yes... it was almost like she had simply melted out of the Emerald, her body appearing from the ashes.

Who was she? And how had she just _appeared_ out of the Master Emerald?

Shadow's eyes found themselves tracing her face briefly, but it was her eyes that caught his attention: they were a deep cerulean color, flecked with different hues ranging from navy to baby blue. The color was almost enough to give him a painful flashback, but it wasn't just the color that gave him pause; Shadow could read something deep in them, something unusual yet too familiar, something so evident that it only took him a second to identify.

Fear. Fear... and hurt. Hurt and... innocence. Innocence and... grief. Grief and yet... idealism.

Too familiar.

Realizing he was still holding her, the black hedgehog set her on her feet roughly, but had to balance her when she stumbled. Quickly withdrawing his hands as a perfect gentleman, Shadow oh so skillfully reigned in his emotions, locking them where all feelings belonged: in their cell, the shell of his hardened heart. He turned his attention back to the battle.

"Thank you."

Her voice was gentle and fear-laced enough that Shadow's gaze returned to her, but not even a grunt escaped his lips; and so the only response Tikal received was his intense red gaze.

That is, until Shadow crossed his arms and noticed how the battle was going. Faker and his team seemed to have turned the tide somehow. Scowling again, Shadow was about to take off, but felt an odd urge to stay - he had to do something with the girl. She could be valuable somehow, considering that she'd come out of the Emerald and one of the Eggman robots was trying to grab her. At the time, something had clicked in his tortured memory, and he'd acted on almost a whim to get her out of there.

_It doesn't matter, Shadow..._

Of course it didn't. Now, he'd just have to get out of there...

"Who are _you_?"

It was her gentle voice again. Shadow snapped his face back to her and rasped, "It's not important."

Tikal gasped at the roughness of his voice; it sounded like his throat had been rubbed with sandpaper. And she found his demeanor, his body language, and his appearance... a little frightening. Yet, for some reason, he'd saved her. Who was he? And how had he just appeared out of nowhere to save her? He was so _mysterious._

Once again, she traced his long, upward pointing quills, the stubs on his back, the patch of soft looking fur on his chest... and his eyes. They were so cold looking, yet.. Tikal could read more in them as she returned his piercing gaze. There was no fear, no insecurity, hardly any emotion at all, yet there was a deep set pain. He'd been hardened by violence.

It reminded her of that same look her father had had, that blood lust, yet much more restrained. And oddly enough, she could also make out a twinge of vengeance. Like Chaos...

Too familiar.

"Stay up here, you'll be safe if you don't move," he commanded, and then was gone in another flash of light.

Blinking at his sudden disappearance, the echidna had nowhere else to look but back at the horrible battle. It was such a waste of time, of energy, of life... she was about to close her eyes again, but then caught a sight of the black hedgehog. He had re entered the fray, and was downing robots left and right. He seemed to have the ability to create energy in his hands and hurl it at enemies. It all was so effortless to him, this destroying.

He was a walking weapon.

Not wanting to watch yet not able to keep her eyes off of him, Tikal was inexplicably forced to watch the black hedgehog singlehandedly turn the tide of the battle, sending all the robots packing. He was simply incredible, his power... and yet Tikal felt saddened for him, saddened that he was a fighter...

"Shadow, what are you doing here?" Sonic asked his rival once they'd caught their breath after the battle.

"Saving your butt," Shadow replied evenly, turning to the still shattered Master Emerald. He ignored Sonic's resulting huff and waited for Knuckles to ask the question, about the girl... really, for some reason, he needed to make sure she was safe. And these guys, they'd be able to take care of her. Better than he could, at this point... it was one thing they could do right, at least.

"Where's Tikal?" Knuckles asked, turning from his broken prized possession to Shadow. "It was you who saved her, right?

Shadow merely blinked at him, but then realized that must be her name.

_Tikal. _

He turned his gaze up to the building where he'd left her, and Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, and Amy followed it. Knowing that Sonic would be up there in an instant, Shadow muttered the famous words and teleported up to Tikal before his faker could make it up there.

The girl merely blinked at him, obviously still overwhelmed by everything that had happened. _She's scared... she's alone... she needs something. I..._

_Snap out of it._

Still... he needed to make contact with her again to Chaos Control both of them back to where Sonic and the others were. Ever the gentleman, Shadow extended his hand wordlessly.

Tikal stared at his gloved fingers, almost afraid to touch him lest he create that killing energy again. Then the strangest of smiles played at his mouth, and the girl was even more overwhelmed.

"I'll bring you back to the others. I can use Chaos Control."

Chaos Control. What a concept. Unsure but willing to trust him, Tikal slowly lifted her hand up to him, and he met her more than halfway, his fingers strongly but not roughly gripping her hand.

Another flash of light, and Tikal felt the weightlessness that was familiar to being in her spirit form. Once her eyes worked again, she found herself standing in front of her friends from long ago, whom she had shown the past to save their future...

"You'll be safe with them," Shadow said softly, unsure of why it was so hard to meet her radiant blue eyes now. Instead he found his focus drawn to long, orange dreadlock quills, and how they framed her delicate, innocent face. The face that he would spend the next hour trying to forget.

Once Shadow had left, Amy said, "Tikal, you're back!" mimicking everyone's thoughts and tilting her head in wonder as a gentle smile lit up her face.

But the echidna stayed planted, her gaze fixed on where Shadow had been. "Who... is _he_?"

"He?" Sonic snorted. "That's just Shadow. He's a punk."

_Shadow._

"Don't worry about him," Tails piped up. "What I'm wondering is why _you're_ back."

"And where Chaos is," Knuckles added.

Tikal looked down at her blue bracelets, realizing she had bigger problems than just that black hedgehog. "I'm not sure..."

"We'll figure it out," Amy said cheerfully, glad that they'd won the battle. "We need to get you safe, Tikal."

"Thank you all, I am safe now," she said. Thanks to... _Shadow. _

...xxx...

**Oh my... a pacifist falling in love with an ultimate weapon. This will get interesting, I'm sure. The hard part will be getting the weapon to fall for the pacifist...**

**And one more thing: there probably won't be much more action in this, I just needed a way to get Tikal out of the Master Emerald. I say probably because I'd be lying if I said I had this story planned out... I have a good idea for chapter 2 but after that... yeah. We'll see how this one turns out. :D**


	2. Alienated

Jacklethekitsune, Mana the Cat Magician, Rafael Pereira, ultimateCCC, 01sonamy01, poka, Alyssacookie, Novus Umbra, SherryBlossom, GodsSonicGirl, (no name), Writer's Freedom, Gargel, Shadikalfan27, Lavender-Star16, ZehHyperactiveAuthor, Princess Estumi, Galexia the Chao, lalarp: (1/27/11)

IT LIIIIIVES~!

Yes, after _constant_ pestering by JackleTheKitsune, Novus Umbra, Mana the Cat Magician, AutoKnight01, ZehHyperactiveAuthor, and others... (love you guys!) This story is finally back up and running. Oh jeez I do apologize for the wait... this isn't like me to put stories on the shelf for months... but oh well. The important thing is that _IT LIVES! _

And yes, I have now played both Adventure games so I'm not quite so ignorant. The only thing I haven't played is Shadow's game (that's not gonna happen), but I still know the story behind him. Writing him, however, will be a different story... y'alll will have to put up with my version of Shadow, as that's all I can really do.

Oh, and special thanks to Novus Umbra... he has given me some ideas for this story that I'm using.

So, without _further_ ado...

Chapter 2: Alienated

* * *

"Are you _sure_ that I'm not going to be a burden on you?" Tikal asked uncertainly. She was walking next to Amy Rose through the streets of Station Square, the two girls headed off to her house.

When Amy had offered Tikal a place to stay, the echidna really hadn't considered saying no. She didn't know the girl that well, but Amy seemed nice enough, and since she was a friend to both Sonic and Knuckles Tikal figured that she was safe to stay with. After all, what she'd seen of this violent world and aggressive culture so far had her thinking that shelter might be the most important need to address.

"Of course you won't be a burden," Amy insisted with her perpetual friendly smile. "I've always wanted to have a roommate. Besides, you need to stay somewhere, right?"

"I guess I can't exactly sleep outside..." Tikal admitted softly as she looked around her new surroundings.

_To think, this is the future... No, this is the present._

Huge buildings made of silvery rock and glass stretched as high as her eyes would travel up into the cloudy sky. The ground was covered with a similar looking material; it looked to be rock, though it was smoother and had no bumps or irregularities. And there were so many people and Mobians walking around... she'd never seen so many creatures in her life. But the oddest thing, was riding on top of the flat gray surface were these strange machines - a lot of them.

"Those are cars," Amy had explained. "People use them to get from one place to another. You really don't know anything about modern living?"

Tikal shook her head, her dreadlock quills swaying from side to side. "Not really... I mean, I've been here before, when Chaos was released the last time... but that's when this whole place was flooded. And I was in my spirit form..." her blue eyes drifted down to look at her more solid body. She was still getting used to walking and carrying around flesh, bone, skin, and fur.

"Well, they really have cleaned it up a lot since then. They're still in the process of rebuilding Twinkle Park," she pouted and eyed her dream date location, but then grinned. "Good news is that they say they're going to expand it. And that means that me and Sonic will get to have even more fun there!" she squealed.

Tikal could only blink. "You and Sonic?"

Amy giggled and nodded. "Yep, he's my boyfriend. Of course, he's too shy to ever admit he likes me, but I think it just makes him _cuter_."

The other girl could only nod and Amy continued to gush about her crush, and for some odd reason that red and black hedgehog - _Shadow_ - popped back into her head. Heat immediately rose to her cheeks, and Tikal almost stopped walking from the rush of feelings. His demeanor had frightened her, to say the least, and the way he'd so effortlessly destroyed those robots was shocking. And yet... she couldn't quite get his image out of her head. The way he'd looked at her with those ruby red eyes would be forever imprinted on her memory. It was like he'd seen right through her, and caught a glimpse of her soul.

"Tikal? Are you okay, girl?" Amy suddenly asked, noticing Tikal had spaced out.

"What? Oh, yeah..." she said, fully aware that her apricot fur was more of the red color associated with her tribe.

"Oh, there's no reason to be shy," the bubbly pink hedgehog continued.

"I know, but - aaaah!" A scream involuntarily escaped Tikal's lips as a large robot suddenly descended from the sky and landed right in front of the girls, blocking their path. She jumped behind Amy in fright.

"Must... capture... intruder," the robot beeped in monotone and extended a claw towards the female echinda.

"No, please, don't hurt me..." Tikal protested and stepped back.

"Hmph, I'll teach you to mess with my friends!" Amy shouted, and then to Tikal's utter shock, the girl pulled a gigantic red and yellow hammer out of nowhere.

"Amy?" Tikal could barely say before the girl was on the robot in an instant, her hammer making dents all over its black steel body.

She found herself cringing with every swing and subsequent dent, despising all of the violence. After only a few seconds, she had to look away.

_I had no idea a girl who looks as innocent as Amy could be a fighter... is there really no one here who loves peace? _She thought as she tried to block the noise by covering her ears. _Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to stay with her after all... she's just as violent as everyone else..._

"Take that!" Amy screamed and with one more swing, finally put the robot out of commission. By now it was so misshaped it hardly resembled the large humanoid form it had looked originally. The dented metal sizzled and electrical sparks zapped out of its form.

"_There _we go," Amy said and hid her hammer away again. "That_ Eggman_, he can never leave a girl alone for more than a _minute_," she fumed, then turned to Tikal and smiled as if nothing happened. "Sorry about that, these parts aren't usually dangerous. Still, it's usually not safe to be by yourself, that's why I always carry my hammer."

Tikal could only softly nod and fell back into step with Amy.

_Why is this world so cruel..._ she wondered during the rest of the walk. _Why can't we all learn to live in peace, and just love each other? I guess... things aren't that simple...  
_

The rest of the walk was uneventful, just Amy explaining about Dr. Eggman, Sonic, what she didn't know about the Master Emerald, Sonic, where the best places to eat and shop were, and Sonic. Tikal could hardly get a word in with the chatterbox, but she didn't mind. She was mostly too overwhelmed to say anything anyway.

They finally came upon the suburbs, and consequently, Amy's cute little house. Tikal stepped inside warily, while Amy violently kicked off her boots into her messy closet.

"Oh, just make yourself at home," Amy said cheerily and led Tikal to her spare room in the back of the house.

As soon as Tikal saw her new dwelling, she was even more overwhelmed. A large bed sat in the corner, juxtaposed to a dresser and fold out closet. "This... is mine?"

"Yep, all yours girly. I'm sorry it's a little small - "

"Oh, no, if anything it's big," Tikal admitted.

"Oh, don't be silly. Still, I hope you like it... oh, and that closet is full of all my old and spare clothes... you're welcome to them, if they fit you. If not... well, that means we get to go _shopping!_" Amy had to smile at that prospect.

Tikal opened the closet door, her blue eyes growing huge at the mountain of clothes resting inside. There was everything in there - dresses, skirts, jeans, corduroys, khakis, shirts, sweaters, hoodies... and these were all of Amy's "old and spare" clothes.

"Go ahead and take some," Amy offered again, and tried not to frown as she looked at Tikal's very much outdated outfit. She knew from Knuckles and Sonic that Tikal came from the past, but still.

"Thanks..." Tikal accepted and began searching for a new outfit after Amy left to make them a snack. She finally selected a pretty patterned skirt and shawl-like top to throw over a t-shirt.

The echidna emerged from her new room only for her senses to be enveloped by a warm, delicious smell. She followed her nose through the halls of the house towards the kitchen to meet back up with Amy. As she walked though, she didn't fail to notice all the pictures of a blue hedgehog gracing the walls. Tikal cringed a little but kept on walking when she noticed a larger picture, right above the fireplace. It had more than just Sonic's picture; Tikal could also see Knuckles, Tails, Amy herself... a lot more people she didn't know and..._ Shadow. _

There it was, that feeling of her heart bouncing wildly through her chest and heat rushing to her face. She tried to fight the feeling, only to succumb to it the more she looked at his picture. The hedgehog was standing at the far end of the photo, looking clearly unhappy with his arms folded and a scowl on his incredibly attractive face.

_Why is he so unhappy?_ Tikal couldn't help but wonder. She unconsciously lifted a finger to touch his picture._ There's something there, beneath his outer mask, I can almost feel it... he has a hurting soul underneath... oh, how I want to see him again... _

"Tikal, that's such a cute outfit!" Amy suddenly gushed, breaking her concentration. The girl came up behind her and just then noticed what she was looking at.

"Oh, you noticed my picture... tee hee, this was at our last get-together. You know everyone right? That's me, Sonic, Cream, Tails..." Amy went through the list of everyone present "...I'm surprised_ Shadow_ even showed up..."

Tikal blushed again at his name, and this time Amy noticed.

"Oh, why did you turn red all of a sudden?"

"What, I didn't," Tikal said and looked away.

"Hmmm... you sure look red to me," Amy teased.

"No, I... I was just wondering, is Shadow always so... quiet? " she drifted off, and Amy nodded in understanding.

"Yes, he's always been like that. It's just who Shadow is."

Tikal continued looking at his picture, noting the indifference in his eyes, transfixed by his image. There was just something about him that was so... captivating.

"Why?" she asked again.

Amy shrugged and pulled her quills behind her ears flippantly. "He's had a hard life. I really do feel bad for him... but every time I try to talk with him, he just pushes me away. He does that for everyone... except Omega and _Rouge_." She visibly rolled her eyes at the last name and pointed to a curvy bat standing next to Shadow in the photo. "But even to them, he's still a jerk. But I sort of understand why..."

Tikal nodded, signaling she wanted Amy to continue. For some reason, there was nothing she wanted more than to hear about this mysterious black hedgehog.

"See, when he was first... well," Amy hesitated, trying to figure the best way to tell this story. "A long time ago, his best friend Maria was killed by G.U.N., the government. And he's never quite gotten over her death. Plus all of his memories are gone... it's sad more than anything, really."

"You said his memories are gone?" Tikal blinked in surprise.

Amy nodded again. "It's a long story, and if you really want to know, you should ask him. Though good luck with that...Oh, and I have to admit..." Amy lowered her voice and leaned forward, though no one else was near. "I used to have a little tiny crush on Shadow..._ but_ I don't anymore, it went away really fast."

Tikal blushed again, but Amy continued.

"It's just.. I hate to say this, but he looks so much like Sonic, but... well, he's not Sonic, not even close. So no, Sonic is my boyfriend, and I'm not going to cheat on him." Amy smiled. "But anyway, why are we talking about _Shadow_ of all people? C'mon, I just made us lunch. Let's eat and then we can go out again, huh?"

Tikal had been about to say that she just wanted to talk about Shadow... but couldn't think of a reason why. So with one last glance at his sullen figure in the picture, she followed her hostess into the kitchen.

...xxx...

_Why..._

It was a word that had often passed through Shadow's mind, although this time at least, it had nothing to do with his memories (or lack thereof), the Doctor or any other pathetic humans, Faker, Maria, and especially not_ feelings_. Okay, so maybe it did have to do with the last one on his list. But these were odd feelings... They were strangely familiar, and yet he couldn't place them. But there was just something about that girl echidna - _Tikal_ - that was making him think too much, even for himself.

Shadow just couldn't stop wondering who she was. He'd seen her practically melt out of the Master Emerald when the Doctor had tried to steal it. And he'd felt something... his hardened heart had warmed, just a little, to see her look so innocent and helpless before that robot, sure... but it was something else. Something deeper. It was like his whole body, his whole existence, had been shot with thousands of volts of energy, making his quills almost stand on end. He'd sensed something different and powerful about her.

It was odd. She was certainly no ordinary echidna (then again, echidnas in this day and age were anything but ordinary). Even so, the more he thought and brooded about the situation, the more Shadow wanted to know about her.

Speeding up his rocket skates, Shadow left the shady part of town he'd been roaming around it, deep in thought, and headed back to the city. It was lunch hour and with the sun directly above them, the streets were clogged with traffic and noise. Avoiding others as much as possible, Shadow zipped past the highway and headed straight for downtown. Right at the crossroads the two main streets was nestled the infamous Club Rouge, advertised by gaudy pink and violet neon signs that burned even at noon.

Somehow, it housed himself and the only two beings he could consider friends. Omega and Rouge. The former was an no-nonsense robot, and maybe that was why him and Shadow got along well. The latter was more of a sister to Shadow... she was the only living being who actually accepted him. There was nothing romantic between them, of course... love was something Shadow had given up on long ago. And Rouge, well, she obviously had her eye on a certain echidna...

_And you have your eye on the only other one. _

_Hmph. I'm just getting more information about her, _Shadow thought as he busted into the club.

Rouge looked up from behind the bar, where she was playing with her cell phone.

"Well, Shadow, this is a surprise," she said and smirked as her phone slipped out of her hands.

The hedgehog simply gave her a nod and skated right past her. Rouge sent him a glare behind his back and turned back to her phone. After searching in the back room, Shadow finally found his other best friend, sitting perfectly still in standby mode. Wasting no time, he turned the robot on and went behind him to open up his back, revealing an input board.

_I wonder... if I check his definitions and information... did the Doctor know about Tikal when he created Omega? Does he even now? Would he put any information in Omega?  
_

_It's worth a shot. _

His fingers typed in T-I-K-A-L and then pressed enter, hoping that it would unlock some information about the mysterious girl.

_Domain not found_, Omega's internal monitor read.

Shadow cursed in his head and thought for a minute before the sound of high heels heading this way broke his concentration. Oh, dang that nosy bat...

"What are you up to?"

The hedgehog didn't answer and instead typed in MASTER EMERALD and waited for a response.

The long definition implanted in Omega's memory appeared, and Shadow skimmed through it, gleaning for anything to do with a certain echidna...

"Master Emerald?" Rouge was suddenly right over his shoulder, smirking. "_That_ looks interesting..."

"Rouge, I'm not in the mood," he grumbled.

"Huh, when are you ever," she snapped back. "Why can't you just tell me what you're doing?"

Shadow's mouth remained closed, his brow furrowed in thought as he continued reading. Most of it he was familiar with, but some of it...

_Chaos... immortal god of destruction... mutated chao... sealed in the Emerald... stone tablets... echidnas, inner guardian, outer guardian... wait, inner guardian? Sealed in the Emerald...? That must be it... but there's nothing else in here... the Doctor must not have known when he created Omega... or didn't think it was worthwhile to add it...  
_

"C'mon Shadz, if it's about my Emerald _I'm _certainly _curious_..." Rouge drawled.

Shadow cursed again, and this time it wasn't silent. He turned his gaze to Rouge, who wasn't phased in the least.

"Well, are you finally going to share?"

"Have you ever heard of a girl named... Tikal?" a surprisingly strong flood of feelings rushed into his heart at her name.

Rouge immediately shook her head. "No, why?"

Shadow looked back at Omega's system. "This morning, the doctor tried to steal the Master Emerald. And I was there to help Sonic stop him."

"Yes, and...?"

"It shattered. And then an echidna appeared out of the pieces."

"An echidna?" Rouge echoed, immediately thinking of Knuckles.

"A female echidna."

Rouge fought off her wave of jealousy. _There better not be another girl hitting on Knuckie.._. "Wait, you mean the Master Emerald shattered, and then some chick randomly melted out of it?"

Shadow gave a slight nod. "And I'm trying to figure out why." _And why I have these weird feelings for her... and a connection I can't explain...  
_

Two feminine hands found their way to their owner's hips. "Really? And since when did you care enough to do that?"

_Since a few hours ago..._ "It doesn't matter. The Doctor is probably going after her, since she is connected with the Master Emerald somehow."

"Well, I say we pay a little visit to Angel Island - "

"You go ahead, but I'm going to find the girl first," Shadow insisted and pulled out his Chaos Emerald. He inspected the green gem for a moment before closing his eyes, getting ready to do Chaos Control.

But instead of picturing where he wanted to go, Tikal's beautiful face appeared in his head. Those long quills, her small mouth and pink lips, those lovely blue eyes -

His own red ones snapped open, and Shadow was shocked to find himself short of breath. He inhaled and met Rouge's confused gaze, but before she could even ask what was wrong, Shadow had already disappeared via Chaos Control.


End file.
